There are currently about 3 dozen houseboats and floating homes for sale in Seattle. This number is a bit higher than usual, but not particularly far out of the normal range of inventory.

Sales of houseboats and floating homes started out well for the year, but have slowed a bit. We’re currently at just 8 sales for the year, while last year at this point just 7 had been sold. This is a luxury/vacation/second home market, which typically suffers in slow real estate markets.

Financing is now available for houseboat vessels, which previously was a big hindrance for buyers. There’s still usually a requirement for at least 20% down, but it does break the requirement for all-cash buyers. This should help the market moving forward.

Sam DeBord is a Realtor and real estate broker with SeattleHome.com, a division of Washington State Realty, LLC. He is a member of the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors and a Green-Certified Pro. The NWMLS did not compile or publish this information.

Have a question about this waterfront home, or Seattle real estate in general?Sam can be contacted at (206) 658-3225 or Sam(at)SeattleHome.com.